BRICS: Two more African countries to join
Two African states’ membership has been approved by BRICS states and this was done in the just ended BRICS summit, which was held in Johannesburg, South Africa seeing the BRICS family expanding to eleven.
The announcement was made by the incoming BRICS chairperson, President Cyril Ramaphosa (South Africa). Amongst the invited countries to join includes two African states which are Egypt and Ethiopia.
This therefore means the African continent will have the most representatives in the bloc. Ethiopia is located at the horn of Africa and Egypt is situated in the Northern part of Africa.
According to SABC News, the 5 members of the BRICS had to make a crucial decision on whom should be part of their organisation and how the organisation will benefit from them hence this was a mutual agreement. Ethiopia is described as a mixed and transition economy with a large public sector. In 2022, the GDP growth of Ethiopia fell to 5.3% from 5.6% in 2011. Ethiopia is also considered as the second largest populous nation in Africa after Nigeria and its one of the fastest- growing economies in the region. It also remains one of the poorest, with a capital gross nation income $1.020.
China remains as Ethiopia’s top investor. However, the Ethiopian government led by Prime Minister and Noble Peace Prize winner, Dr Abiy Ahmed has been accused of Human Rights abuse especially during the civil war between the Trigger Region.
Egypt is another African country that was invited to join the BRICS on Thursday the 25th of August by the BRICS leaders. In June 2023, Egypt had submitted a formal application to join the bloc whilst in February, Egypt had joined the BRICS New Development Bank.
According to ZAWYA in 2022, Egypt and BRICS countries’ trade exchange increased to $31.2bn. Just like Ethiopia, Egyptian government under President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi is accused by Human Rights activists for human rights abuse.
